How many security vehicles does it take to escort one duchess?
Meghan Markle beefed up her safety measures for a recent night out in the Big Apple.
Photos exclusively obtained by Page Six show the Duchess of Sussex, 43, being driven around New York City on Thursday evening with a grandiose four-car motorcade, including three SUVs and an unmarked police vehicle.
We’re told Markle hired former Secret Service agents as part of her private security detail — which followed her to dinner and a Broadway show — and that the unmarked vehicle belonged to the New York Police Department and had two intel detectives inside of it.
A paparazzi source tells Page Six that the duchess’s security measures are “absolutely abnormal, totally over-the-top and excessive.”
“Taylor [Swift] usually has two cars — her car that she’s in and a security car with her team,” the insider says, “and if she’s going somewhere, she has a separate car on-site with her team already there, but they don’t travel together.”
The pap source notes that other A-listers like Kim Kardashian, Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Rihanna all travel with one car unless they are with family, then they allot for two, but “no one gets police escorts.”
“Meghan is out of control and over-the-top, and it’s ridiculous if the city is paying for this,” the source opines. “And if NYPD was not on duty, then they shouldn’t be allowed to run lights. Somebody’s got to be paying for it.”
However, a second source tells Page Six that just because most stars don’t utilize NYPD’s services doesn’t mean they can’t — as any celeb’s head of security can ask for protection if necessary.
“It’s something that can be made available based on the threat assessment and the circumstances of where they’re going and what they’re doing,” the second source explains.
We’ve been told that most of Markle’s cars were decoys and were empty inside. Although one NYPD officer was spotted in uniform beside her, our second source speculates the local precinct already had that particular cop posted where Markle was going to control pedestrian traffic.
Page Six has reached out to a spokesperson for the NYPD and Markle’s rep for comment on the extravagant security measures but did not immediately hear back.
The four-car motorcade first followed the former “Suits” star to an early dinner at Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bar, where she met up with friends. Prince Harry was not in town, as he was visiting Ukraine.
Markle, who wore a puffy-sleeved black top and houndstooth pencil skirt for the fun outing, then made her way to the Theater District, where she caught the revival of “Gypsy” at the Majestic Theatre.
Although the “With Love, Meghan” star was ushered out by the venue’s security and her own bodyguards, we’re told she was able to remain largely low-key and go unnoticed by fellow theatergoers.
Markle and Harry, 40, have been vocal in the past about feeling unsafe in New York City.
In May 2023, a source claimed to Page Six that the couple were “extremely upset and shaken” following what their rep described as “a near catastrophic car chase” with paparazzi.
“This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,” their publicist claimed at the time.
“While being a public figure comes with a level of interest from the public, it should never come at the cost of anyone’s safety.”
However, multiple sources cast doubt on Markle and Harry’s version of the events at the time, with a high-ranking NYPD source telling The Post that there had been “no collision reports or 911 calls” and that the chase “definitely wasn’t two hours.”
One eyewitness even placed blame on the royals’ team, telling Page Six exclusively, “They were mocking the paps, provoking them.
“You expect that kind of thing from security for rappers or whatever, but with good security — which this should be — you expect them to be similar to Secret Service. These security egged on the paps.”
The Sussexes’ rep slammed the notion that the ordeal had been drummed up for publicity.
“Respectfully, considering the duke’s family history, one would have to think nothing of the couple or anybody associated with them to believe this was any sort of PR stunt,” publicist Ashley Hansen said at the time, referring to Harry’s mother Princess Diana’s death in a 1997 paparazzi chase.
Since then, Harry has also stepped up his security when visiting Manhattan.
In September 2024, the “Spare” author was seen arriving at a tattoo shop flanked by several bodyguards and two NYPD cars to shoot a video with singer Jelly Roll.
